urban design, Ruys introduced planting in clean lines creating sightlines through the village. In the central green Ruys specified that the path pattern through this space should arise spontaneously through use and only be hardened afterwards. This idea of ‘desire paths’ or ‘elephant paths’ was radical as it opposes the totality of the top-down modernist master plan. Ruys became a household name in the Netherlands by publishing a number of books, the best-known of which is Het vaste plantenboek ("Book of perennials"). With her husband, Theo Moussault (a former owner of the Amsterdam weekly De Groene Amsterdammer), she started a quarterly magazine in 1954, Onze eigen tuin ("Our own garden"), which is still considered one of the most creative Dutch publications in this field. The magazine is read in middle- and upper-class circles, and includes "Gardening lessons for suckers." Ruys died in 1999. Style and influence Ruys is highly respected; Trouw called her one of the top-10 most influential garden architects of the world. She is responsible for the widespread use in the Netherlands of old railroad ties and gravel tiles, and her style is characterized as "clear, direct, and barren." Influenced by Japanese design and using rectangular spaces, water, bamboo, and wood, Ruys is credited with creating open and transparent spaces even in small gardens. Her use of railroad ties led to the concept of the bielzentuin (from "biels," the Dutch word for railroad tie): she is nicknamed "Bielzen Mien." The first bielzentuin she made dates from 1956, in the garden of a residential house in Overveen built by Dutch architect Gerard Holt; the house is on the list of municipal monuments. Influential also was Ruys's use and propagation of plants grown from bulbs. Her advice on how and where to plant the bulbs is cited even in the United States. Tuinen Mien Ruys The Tuinen Mien Ruys opened in 1976, and contain 30 model gardens. It is run by the Foundation Tuinen Mien Ruys, which began cooperating with the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed in 2001. As a result, three of the individual gardens received the status of Rijksmonument ("national monument"). In 2002, the Tuinen Mien Ruys made the news because of financial difficulties, to which it responded by expanding its activities. The foundation also broke with the Moerheim Nursery to which it was still connected and built its own entrance; with the help of volunteers and donors